Investor Tools
Austin rental property ROI calculator.
Model cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return with Austin's real tax, insurance, and vacancy assumptions — then have a local team verify the rent.
Calculator
Run the numbers on an Austin investment.
Adjust the inputs below. Everything recalculates instantly — nothing is stored and nothing is sent anywhere.
Purchase
Income
Expenses
Results — Year One
Negative — the property requires monthly funding.
On $126,500 invested.
NOI divided by purchase price, unlevered.
Annual, before mortgage.
Below 1.20 — many lenders want 1.20+.
Cash flow plus year-one loan paydown. Appreciation not included.
Estimates only. The rent figure drives everything — have us verify it against executed Austin leases before you commit.
Get My Free Rent ProjectionHow to use it
Three rules for honest Austin underwriting.
- 01
Start with real rent
Enter a rent you can defend with executed comps, not a listing price or an online estimate. Everything downstream depends on this number being honest.
- 02
Load every expense
Taxes at the non-homestead rate, insurance, HOA, management, a maintenance reserve, and vacancy. If a line feels optimistic, it is.
- 03
Read all four returns
Cash flow is one return. Principal paydown, tax depreciation, and appreciation are the others. Judge the deal on the total, but never let the other three excuse monthly bleeding.
15+
Years of real estate experience
1,000+
Real estate transactions
Free
Investor rent projection
1 day
Typical turnaround
Context
What the numbers look like in Austin right now.
A calculator is a mirror for your assumptions. These are the assumptions that hold up locally.
Property taxes are the line that breaks most out-of-state pro formas. An investment property in Travis, Williamson, or Hays County receives no homestead exemption and no 10% annual assessment cap, so the taxable value generally resets to something close to your purchase price. Combined rates commonly run between 1.8% and 2.3% depending on city, school district, and whether the property sits inside a MUD. On a $450,000 home that is roughly $8,100 to $10,350 a year before anything else is paid.
Insurance has moved sharply across Texas. Budgeting $1,800 to $3,000 annually for a standard single-family rental is realistic today, higher for older roofs, pools, or homes in flood-adjacent areas. Underwriting last year's premium is a reliable way to be wrong by a thousand dollars.
Vacancy is where optimism is cheapest and most expensive. One month empty is 8.3% of annual rent. A 5-8% vacancy assumption is not pessimism; it is the cost of a normal turnover with a make-ready between leases. Skipping it inflates every downstream metric on this page.
Geography decides the shape of the return. Inside the core — Tarrytown, Zilker, Bouldin, Hyde Park, Downtown — price per square foot has outrun rent, so day-one cash flow is thin and the case rests on appreciation and long holds. Push into Pflugerville, Hutto, Manor, Kyle, Buda, and parts of Round Rock and Leander and rent-to-price ratios improve enough that a well-bought property can carry itself from month one.
Finally, remember that cash flow is only one of four returns. Principal paydown, depreciation, and appreciation typically dwarf it over a full hold period, which is why a 4% cash-on-cash Austin property can outperform a 9% cash-flow market over ten years. The discipline is refusing to let those three excuse a deal that bleeds every single month.
FAQ
Austin investor questions.
What is a good ROI on an Austin rental property?+
Most Austin buyers underwrite to roughly 4-7% cash-on-cash in year one. Total return is usually higher once principal paydown, depreciation, and long-run appreciation are counted. Central Austin tends to run thinner on cash flow and stronger on appreciation; the northern and southern suburbs generally do the opposite.
What property tax rate should I use for an Austin investment property?+
Rental property does not receive a homestead exemption or the 10% annual assessment cap, so plan on the full assessed value at or near your purchase price. Combined rates across Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties commonly land in the 1.8% to 2.3% range depending on the city, school district, and MUD.
How much should I budget for maintenance and vacancy?+
A common starting point is 5-8% of gross rent for maintenance and repairs plus a capital reserve, and 5-8% for vacancy — roughly three to four weeks of turnover a year. Older homes, pools, and large lots should sit at the high end of both.
Do Austin rental properties actually cash flow?+
Some do. Inside the core, price per square foot has outpaced rent, so many properties are near break-even and the return leans on appreciation. In Pflugerville, Hutto, Manor, Kyle, Buda, and parts of Round Rock and Leander, rent-to-price ratios are better and a well-bought property can carry itself from month one.
Is the calculator's rent estimate accurate?+
The calculator uses whatever rent you enter — it cannot verify it. That single number decides whether a deal works, and online estimates routinely miss Austin block by block by $200 to $500 a month. Send us the address and we will price it against leases that actually executed nearby, free.
Will you analyze a property I have not bought yet?+
Yes. We give buyers a rent projection and an expense estimate before closing at no cost and with no obligation to use our management.
Make the numbers real
Free rent projection and ROI review on any Austin property you own or are considering.
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